"And you aren't about to let Tanda go. Right?" Aahz finished.
"Don't misunderstand," Quigley insisted, gnawing his lip. "I'd like to let her go. If nothing else it would do a lot for patching up the misunderstanding between Tanda and myself. Unfortunately, I just don't see any way I could let her escape without losing my job on grounds of incompetence."
"Say, maybe we could get you a job in Possiltum!" I suggested brightly.
"Kid," Aahz smiled, "are you going to stop that tongue of yours all by yourself, or do I have to tear it out by the roots?"
I took the hint and shut up.
"Thank you, lad," Quigley said, "but I couldn't do that. Unlike yourself, I'm still trying to build a reputation as a magician. How would it look if I left my first job in defeat with my tail between my legs?"
"You haven't got a tail," Aahz pointed out.
"Figure of speech," Quigley shrugged.
"Oh," my mentor nodded. "Well, if you think a hasty retreat from one's first job is unusual, my friend, you still have a lot to learn about the magik profession."
"Haven't I been saying that?" Quigley frowned.
I listened to their banter with only half an ear. The rest of me was floating on Quigley's implied compliment. I'm getting quite good at hearing indirect compliments. The direct ones are few and far between.
Come to think of it, I was getting a reputation as a magician. No one could deny we beat Isstvan at his own game-and I had actually recruited and commanded the team that stopped Big Julie's army. Why, in certain circles, my name must be ...
"Bullshit!" Aahz roared, slapping his hand down on the table hard enough to make the chairs jump. "I tell you she didn't steal the damn Trophy!"
I collected my shattered nerves and turned my attention to the conversation once more.
"Oh, come now, Aahz," Quigley grimaced. "I traveled with Tanda long enough to know she's not above stealing something that caught her eye-nor are you two, I'd imagine."
"True enough," Aahz admitted easily, "but you can bet your last baseball card that if any of us went after your Trophy, we wouldn't be caught afterward."
"My last what?" Quigley frowned. "Oh, no matter. Look, even if I believed you I couldn't do anything. What's important is the council believes Tanda was involved, and they wouldn't even consider releasing her unless they got the Trophy back first."
"Oh, yeah?" Aahz smiled, showing all his teeth.
"How many council members are there and how are they guarded?"
"Aahz!" Quigley said sternly. "If anything happened to the council, I'm afraid I'd see it as a threat to my job and therefore a direct violation of Master Skeeve's promise."
My mentor leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. The heavy metal wine goblet in his hand crumpled suddenly, but aside from that there was no outward display of his feelings.
"Um... Quigley?" I ventured cautiously. I still had a vivid image in my mind of my tongue in Aahz's grasp instead of the wine goblet.
"Yes, lad?" Quigley asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
"What did you say would happen if the Trophy were returned?"
Aahz's head swiveled around slowly until our gazes met, but his gold speckled eyes were thoughtful now.
"Well, I didn't say, actually," Quigley grumphed, "but that would change everything. With the Trophy back, the council would be ecstatic and definitely better disposed toward Tanda... . Yes, if the Trophy were returned, I think I could find an excuse to release her."
"Is that a promise?"
I may be ignorant, but I'm a fast learner.
Quigley studied me for a moment before answering. "Very well," he said at last. "Why do you ask?"
I shot a glance at Aahz. One eyelid slowly closed in a wink, then he went back to studying the ceiling.
"Because," I announced, relief flooding over me, "I think I've come up with a way we can free Tanda, protect your job, and stop the war in one fell swoop."
Chapter Eleven:
"What do you mean, ‘You've got a little job for me?"
-HERCULES
"STEAL the Trophy back from Veygus. Just like that," Aahz grumbled for the hundredth time.
"We're doomed," Griffin prophesied grimly.
"Shut up. Griffin," I snarled.
It occurred to me I was picking up a lot of Aahz's bad habits lately.
"But I keep telling you, I don't know Veygus," the youth protested. "I won't be any help at all. Please, can't I go back to Ta-hoe?"
"Just keep walking," I sighed.
"Face it, son," Aahz smiled, draping a casual arm over our guide's shoulder. "We aren't going to let you out of our sight until this job's over. The sooner we get to Veygus, the sooner you'll be rid of us."
"But why?" Griffin whined.
"We've gone over this before," my mentor sighed. "This heist is going to be rough enough without Veygus hearing about it in advance. Now the only way we can be sure you don't tell anyone is to keep you with us. Besides, you're our passport through the Ta-hoe patrols if we meet any."
"The patrols are easy to avoid," the youth insisted. "And I won't tell anyone about your mission, honest. Isn't there any way I can get you to trust me?"
"Well," Aahz drawled judiciously, "I guess there is one thing that might do the trick."
"Really?" our guide asked hopefully.
"What da ya think, Skeeve?" my mentor called. "Do you feel up to turning our friend here into a rock or a tree or something until the job's over?"
"A rock or a tree?" the youth gulped, wide-eyed.
"Sure," Aahz shrugged. "I wouldn't have suggested it myself. There's always a problem finding the right rock or tree to change back. Sometimes it takes years of searching. Sometimes the magician just gives up."
"Can't you guys walk any faster?" Griffin challenged, quickening his pace. "We'll never get to Veygus at this rate."
"I guess that settles that," I smiled, winking at Aahz to show I appreciated his bluff.
"Steal the Trophy from Veygus," my mentor replied, picking up his witty repartee where he had left it. "Just like that."
So much for changing the subject.
"C'mon Aahz, give me a break." I defended glibly. "You agreed to this before I proposed it."
"I didn't say anything," he argued.
"You winked," I insisted.
"How do you know I didn't just get something in my eye? "he countered.
"I don't," I admitted. "Did you?"
"No," he sighed. "I winked. But only because it looked like the only way out of the situation you got us into."
He had me there.
"How we got into this spot is beside the point," I decided. "The real question is how are we going to steal the Trophy."
"I see," Aahz grunted. "When you get us into trouble, it's beside the point."
"The Trophy," I prompted.
"Well..." my mentor began slowly, rising to the bait. "We won't be able to make any firm plans until we see the layout and size up the guards. How ‘bout it. Griffin? What are we liable to be up against? How good are these Veygans?"
"The Veygans?" our guide grimaced. "I wouldn't worry about them if I were you. They couldn't guard a pea if they swallowed it."
"Really inept, uh?" Aahz murmured, cocking an eyebrow.
"Inept? They're a joke," Griffin laughed. "There isn't a Veygan alive who knows how to spell strategy, much less use it."
"I thought you said you didn't know anything about Veygus," I commented suspiciously.
"Well ... I don't actually," the youth admitted, "but I've seen their team play in the Big Game, and if that's the best they can muster ..."